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A very prim elderly English spinster (Miss Machin) was the School Matron, assisted by Grace, a very pretty pleasant young woman, whose surname we never learned. Under the oversight of Mrs Aspinall they supervised the cleaning, laundering and mending of our personal clothing, the dormitory linen, and the table napery. They taught us the right way to fold and stow our best Sunday suits on our own particular shelves in the clothing locker-room: there was a separate locker room for football "togs" and other athletic garments, next the shower-room downstairs.
Within the College grounds we wore a very comfortable and sensible school uniform, consisting of a grey woollen-mixture shirt with the school tie, navy blue serge belted-shorts, and long grey ribbed stockings with navy blue tops. Outside the school precincts, for visits to the city, or for going to church - St Stephens, Phillip St, in the morning for senior boys - every boarder had to wear a navy blue serge suit, with a black tie, and a straw boater hat carrying the College hatband: shoes had to be black. No deviation from this "uniform" was permitted: coloured suits and ties were especially prohibited.
I remember many Sundays when we went to St Stephens, by tram, in the morning, walked in a long double column, about two miles to St Columbas, Woollahra, for the evening service, and at the end of our weary walk back, having the usual prayers in the Chapel before going straight to bed. I think this great overdose of religious service turned many a young man away from church-going for life.
On Sunday afternoons, under the strict watch of the School Sergeant, we were obliged to go down to the school rooms for about three-quarters of an hour, and write a letter home. When finished these were left unsealed, were collected by the Sergeant and taken to the Principal's study, where his clerk went through them the next morning, and if he found any grammatical or spelling errors, of if he considered that it was a bad effort otherwise, your letter was promptly returned to you for immediate correction or rewriting.